Parkash Singh Badal. File photoIt seems it is election time in Punjab. When elections are near, parties dust their oft-repeated catchphrases kept under warps and raise issues that they hope would help gravitate voters towards them. The three main issues sharing the limelight now are:
Water-sharing with Haryana: While politicians in Punjab would say that they would not share even a drop of water with Haryana, politicians in that neighbouring state would say they they would sacrifice their lives for water. Haryana says that the state, formed out of Punjab, also has rights to its waters.
The second issue is the state of the shared capital, Chandigarh. Punjab wants the centrally-administered capital back, exclusively; Haryana is averse to the idea.
When in power or not, whenever politicians say that Shiromani Akali Dal Sikh community is in danger, it is election time. Nobody asks what the dangers are and nobody is interested to spell it out either.
However, this time around, politicians would need more imaginative excuses for votes. Shiromani Akali Dal is thinking all ways to beat anti-incumbency factors and the opposition is singing ballads about how much the Badal family has accumulated through devious ways. Since the family has heavyweights in the state and central cabinet, these allegations can tip elections in favour of adversaries.
As far as the top members of the local cabinet, who belong to the Badal family, are concerned, the party is their enterprise. The party fields candidates in the name of SGPC and they win in most seats. The SGPC also controls most Gurudwaaras in the state.
It is now the turn of Sukhbir Singh Badal to shout out loud that Sikhs are in danger. The deputy chief minister had come into power promising the sky although he does not seem to have made much progress in that direction. His claim that Punjab would be completely electrified has turned out to be material for cynical jokes for the opposition as Punjab reels in power cuts. Under him, new ventures are sparse and new jobs are not being created.
It was in this background that Dera Sach Sauda head, Gurmeet Ram Rahim was pardoned for blasphemy. The leader, who has significant following from Dalit sections of the society, was to be ostracised by the Akal Takht but they went back on that move, surprising many. It later emerged that it was a game played by the Badal family for votes. Following protests, the pardon was rescinded. However, Ram Rahim went on making fun of Sikh idols and ideologies. The people took to streets to vent their anger and National Highway 8 was closed for 11 days. The police had to resort to firing in many places even as protesters intensified their siege. Train services were completely paralysed as the police had no clue how to send back agitating farmers.
It was then that Punjab's Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal intervened and blamed foreign powers for all the fiasco. The Congress meanwhile started demanding President's rule. The SGPC chastised the five priests who had pardoned Gurmeet Ram Rahim. CM Badal tried to save his skin by blaming the Akal Takt for the fiasco. Many leaders resigned from the SGPC and Akali Dal and the Badal Brand politics came under strain.
The fight between the SGPC and Akal Takt alienated conservative Sikhs from the Badal camp and the Congress made hay while the controversy flamed by telling people that Badal was using Sikhs for his own advantage.
Now we need to see where Punjab is heading to.
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